Post-coital fatigue

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As a post-coital fatigue fatigue, after coitus referred. According to surveys, it affects men more than women.

statistics

According to initial studies, it was believed that women were exhausted after sex. More often than men, however, women also state that after sex they are often more alert and excited than before. Especially men are affected by fatigue. In a survey of 10,000 British men, 80% of men said they were so relaxed after coitus that they would doze off immediately. Only 46% of the women gave similar information.

Explanatory approaches

Blood samples taken automatically from men every 2 minutes for a total of 40 minutes before and after orgasm showed a rapid decrease in adrenaline and noradrenaline and an increase in oxytocin and prolactin after orgasm . Comparable data for women also showed an increase in prolactin, but - in contrast to the rapid decrease in men - also an increase in adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Since adrenaline and noradrenaline play a key role in the central regulation of the level of wakefulness, a fall (men) is an indicator of relative tiredness and an increase (women) is an indicator of increased alertness.

Adrenaline and noradrenaline, which are released as hormones from the adrenal medulla into the blood, usually do not cross the blood-brain barrier in healthy people and therefore have no direct influence on nerve receptors in the brain. However, via ascending fibers of the vagus nerve, they have a significant influence on the noradrenergic nerves of the locus caeruleus in the brain stem , which determine the level of excitement (alertness) in large areas of the brain.

To simplify matters, it can also be said that a drop in adrenaline and noradrenaline (men) means a shift in the vegetative balance in favor of the parasympathetic nervous system ( parasympatheticotonia ) (recovery). Conversely, an increase in the two hormones (women) means a shift in favor of the sympathetic nervous system ( sympatheticotonia , increased alertness). As the statistics above show, there are differences from person to person and possibly other influencing factors.

The above measurements of changes in hormone levels and neurochemistry after orgasm only apply to masturbation performed alone . Comparable data for other circumstances during orgasm are not yet available (September 2018). This also applies to practices without ejaculation, with or without perceived climax.

See also

Web links

  • Ruth Jahn: Cupid's hormone arrows. ( online )
  • How hormones work. ( online ; PDF; 2.3 MB)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ William H. Masters, Virginia E. Johnson: Human sexual response. Little, Braun & Co., Boston 1966.
  2. ↑ Rolf Degen: From the highest of feelings: how a person comes to orgasm. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 978-3-8218-5570-7 .
  3. ^ Rajeev Sharma: Sex Education. Lotus Press, New Delhi 2006, ISBN 978-81-8382-064-6 ( online ) → quote p. 145: "Post Coital Pleasure Having sex puts men to sleep but wakes women up."
  4. ↑ Harold I. Lief: Medical aspects of human sexuality: 750 questions answered by 500 authorities. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore 1975 → Quote: Men, on the other hand, do seem to have a general tendency to roll over and go to sleep after achieving orgasm.
  5. ↑ Typical man. Sex makes you so tired. In: Focus . from February 18, 2005 ( online ).
  6. ↑ TH Krüger, P. Haake, D. Chereath et al .: Specificity of the neuroendocrine response to orgasm during sexual arousal in men. In: The Journal of endocrinology. (J Endocrinol) Vol. 177, No. 1, 2003, pp. 57-64, PMID 12697037 .
  7. ↑ MS Exton, A. Bindert, T. Krüger, F. Scheller, U. Hartmann, M. Schedlowski: Cardiovascular and endocrine alterations after masturbation-induced orgasm in women. In: Psychosomatic medicine. Volume 61, Number 3, May-June 1999, ISSN  0033-3174 , pp. 280-289, PMID 10367606 .
  8. ↑ CW Berridge, BE Schmeichel, RA España: Noradrenergic modulation of wakefulness / arousal. In: Sleep Medicine Reviews . Volume 16, number 2, April 2012, ISSN  1532-2955 , pp. 187-197, doi : 10.1016 / j.smrv.2011.12.003 , PMID 22296742 , PMC 3278579 (free full text) (review).
  9. ↑ CK McIntyre, McGaugh JL, CL Williams: Interacting brain systems modulate memory consolidation. In: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. Volume 36, number 7, August 2012, ISSN  1873-7528 , pp. 1750-1762, doi : 10.1016 / j.neubiorev.2011.11.001 , PMID 22085800 , PMC 3315607 (free full text) (review).